Saudi Arabia is still a land of mystery largely due to its fundamentalist Islam state form and its rigid admission policy.About half of Saudi Arabia consists of uninhabitable desert. Here there are no permanent rivers and lakes and the average temperature in July is about 40ÂºC. These unfriendly circumstances have deeply influenced the Arab way of life. Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East. The Saudi Arabian state was first established in the central region of the Arabian Peninsula in the early 18th Century, but king Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud founded the present day state only in 1932.

Saudi Arabia is a fairly rich country, due to its vast oilfields, but this wealth is not evenly divided. The royal family effectively owns the country. There is minimal political freedom and little tolerance for opposition groups.The country's capital is Riyadh, situated in the very interior of the country, 300 km from the Persian Gulf. It's a modern oil booming city with lots of high rising buildings. Most interesting cities are the holy cities of Mecca and Medina .